Gun sight



53mm @www April 22,V 1941. J. D. HooKs GUN S IGH'L FiledJuly 12, 1939 33. GEUMETWCL iN STR'UMENTS.

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Patented Apr. 22, 194i tout UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Claims.

This invention relates to gun sights of the type which may be easily and quickly attached to and detached from guns, rifles, and other types of fire-arms.

The present invention may be used with great advantage by hunters and also by soldiers, policemen, etc., whenever the need for so-called snap-shooting arises. When hunting in the field, or, in the case of soldiers, during wartime, it is necessary to raise, aim and ire a gun in as short a time as possible.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a gun sight which enables a persO-n to aim the gun more quickly and accurately than heretofore `so that small and moving targets may be struck.

At the present time, various type of fire-arms, particularly riiles and the like, are equipped with the usual rear sight and bead sight or the like at the muzzle of the barrel. Many persons find it difcult to aim a gun with suicient speed and accuracy for snap-shooting because the bead sight is not plainly visible when sighting along the barrel.

An object of the present invention is, therefore, to provide a sight at the muzzle of the barrel which can be clearly and easily seen so that the sights may be lined up in considerably less time.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a gun sight which can be readily attached to the muzzle of the barrel of existing guns. It is not necessary, according to the present invention, to make any structural or mechanical alterations on the guns now being used.

In order to attain the desired objects it is proposed to provide a new gun sight which can be placed over lthe muzzle of the gun and which engages and cooperates with the customary bead sight. In this way, displacement of the gun sight is prevented when using the gun. The new gun sight consists of a tubular member having a groove through which the target may be sighted. This tubular member is provided with a conically shaped outer surface, which can be seen when aligning the sights of the gun. In order to facilitate aiming it is preferred that the conical surface be light in color. This may be attained by painting the surface with a white, yellow or other light colored paint.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the more detailed description which follows when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing.

The drawing which illustrates three modificafil tions of the new gun sight are not to be interpreted as a limitation of the invention but only as examples of the broad idea.

In the drawing, wherein like reference characters refer to similar parts,

Figure l is a fragmentary perspective view of a rifie with the gun sight in final position,

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a muzzle of a gun with the gun sight in the first position of attachment.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the position of the gun sight on the barrel just prior to final position,

Figure 4 is a plan view of the gun sight in final position,

Figure 5 illustrates in perspective a modification of the gun sight in nal position,

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the gun sight shown in Figure 5, with the gun sight removed from the barrel, and

Figure 7 illustrates a third modification of the gun sight in nal position on the barrel.

The gun sight, according to Figures l to 4, consists of a tubular member I, which is provided with a longitudinal slot 2, the purpose of which will be described hereinafter. The tubular member I is provided with a conically shaped outer surface and a cylindrical inner surface for frictional engagement with the barrel 3 of the gun. It will, of course, be recognized that the gun sight, according to this invention, may be made in different sizes according to the size of the barrel of the gun. The member I, which may be coated with any desired color, preferably yellow, is placed on the gun barrel so that the conical surface will be seen when the gun is being aimed (see Figure 1).

The tubular member I is provided with a sighting groove `4 on the conical surface. This groove is so positioned on the tubular member I, that it serves as a sight when the device is in its final position on the gun barrel, that is toV say, the groove 4 is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the gun barrel 3 and is disposed above the customary bead sight 5.

An angular, or L-shaped groove 6 is provided on lthe inner cylindrical surface of the member I. This groove 6 is disposed adjacent the sighting groove 4 and cooperates with the bead sight 5 to form a bayonet joint.

It is to be particularly noticed that :the sight-v ing groove 4 lies directly above the inner end of the angular groove 6 so that, when the gun sight is in the final position the sighting groove 4 and bead sight 5 will lie in the same vertical plane. In this manner one is assured that the sighting groove 4 will be in the proper position for aiming the gun. Also, the bottom of the sighting groove 4 is practically ush with the top of the bead sight, only suflicient material being left therebetween to prevent a hole from forming in the groove 4. This feature ensures that the gun with the new gun sight will be in practically the same position relative to the target as the gun without the new gun sight.

Although grooves 4 and 6 are shown to be channel-shaped in cross-section it will be obvious that any other shaped groove will serve the same purpose and are to be considered as included in this description. Also, it will be obvious that the presentinvention extends to rifles or guns having a type of projecting sight at the muzzle other than a bead sight.

The gun sight is attached to gun by placing the tubular member I over the muzzle of the barrel 3 with the slot 2 aligned with the bead and sliding it onto the barrel as shown in Figure 2, so that the bead sight 5 will pass through said slot. When the member I has been slipped on far enough so that the bead sight 5 emerges from the slot 2, the member I is turned on the barrel of the gun to the position shown in Figure 3. In this position the bead sight 5 is immediately in front of the angular groove 6. The member I is then drawn forward to effect engagement of the bead sight and groove and is then turned to the position shown in Figures l and 4. In this iinal position the sighting groove 4 assumes such a position that it can be used as a gun sight together with the customary rear sight.

The modification shown in Figures 5 and 6 is similar to that shown in Figures 1 to 4 and consists of a tubular member I', sighting groove 4' and angular slot 6. In this modification, however, a Wide slot I is provided in place of the relatively narrow slot 2. The inner surface of the member I is larger than the barrel of the gun in order to accommodate the curved spring member 8 which frictionally engages the barrel 3 when the gun sight is in place. The spring 8 which may be made of spring steel may be attached to the member I in any desired manner, for instance, by rivets 9. Although the spring 8 may grip the barrel equally throughout the length of the gun sight it is preferable that the inner end be expanded so as to flt easily over the muzzle o-f the barrel, so that attachment of the gun sight to the gun is facilitated. 'Ihe outer end, or muzzle end of the spring 8 is formed so as to grip the barrel firmly and prevent accidental rotation of the device on the barrel of the gun. Obviously, those portions of the spring 8 which lie over the angular groove 6 are cut away to permit the bead sight 5 to enter said groove.

An advantage of this particular modification resides in the fact that the spring 8 permits expansion of the gun barrel due to heat generated from ring the gun. Also, since the gun sight covers only a little more than half the gun barrel 3, the heat generated by firing the gun is able to be dissipated more easily than where the gun sight nearly completely encircles the barrel of the gun.

The manner of attaching this last described modification is the same as in the first described modification.

A third modification is shown in Figure 7 and consists of a substantially semi-tubular member to which is secured a spring element II on the inner curved surface of the member I0. The spring element II is provided with tongues I2 which partially encircle the barrel 3 and grip it firmly. Element I I is also provided with a spring locking member I3. The locking member I3 is provided with a hole to receive the bead sight 5. In its normal position the locking member I3 presses against the barrel of the gun. When attaching or detaching the gun sight it is necessary to raise the locking member against the action of the spring. The gun sight according to this modification may be attached in the same manner as the previously described modifications. It may, however, be attached by simply pressing the gun sight onto the barrel so that the spring tongues I2 will snap into position as seen in Figure 7. Following this the locking member I3 is raised and the gun sight moved along `or around the barrel until the hole in the locking member coincides with the bead sight 5, at which time it is released to securely hold the gun. sight in correct alignment.

From each of the foregoing examples, it will be cleai` that the characteristic feature of the present invention is the provision of means on the detachable gun sight cooperating With the customary bead sight or the like to insure the proper alignment of the sighting groove with respect to the gun barrel and rear sight. In each case the engagement of the means with the bead sight prevents accidental movement of the gun sight on the barrel of the gun.

It will be obvious that the new gun sight described herein may be constructed of any suitable material. 'Ihe tubular and semi-tubular members may be made of metals, such as iron or steels or plastic material or any other material which cannot -be easily deformed. The spring elements such as 8, I2, and I3 may be constructed of any suitable resilient material as well as spring steel.

Although the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described in detail, the invention is not to be limited to said embodiments but must be construed as dei-ined by the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A gun sight yfor snap shooting for use on lire-arms having a sight fixed on the muzzle of Ithe barrel, comprising an inclined elongated frusto-conical body member for disposition about the muzzle of a gun barrel and having a sighting groove longitudinally thereof, said body member having means for detachable engagement with the existing sight on the barrel to removably hold the sighting groove over the existing sight.

2. A detachable gun sight for use on lire-arms having a sight fixed on the barrel, comprising an elongated sighting member for disposition about the barrel of the lire-arm and provided with a sighting groove longitudinally thereof, said sighting member being formed With =a bayonet groove for engaging said sight of the lirearm to prevent accidental movement of said member on the barrel of the fire-arm, said sighting groove being disposed on said member in such position that it will lie above the existing sight longitudinally of the barrel When said member is in iinal position on the barrel of the fire-arm.

3. A detachable gun sight for use on re-arms having a sight fixed on the barrel, comprising a longitudinally slotted tubular member for friction-al engagement with the barrel of the fireeEoIvlEimC/u xmseumima arm Kand having an outer frusta-conical surface provided with a sighting groove longitudinally thereof, a bayonet groove on the inner surf-ace of the member for engaging the existing sight, said sighting groove being disposed over the inner end of said bayonet groove so that the sighting groove Will be above the existing sight longitudinally of the barrel when the gun sight is in final position on the barrel of the fire-arm.

4. A `detachable gun sight as claimed in claim 3 and further comprising a spring member secured to the inner side of said tubular member for gripping the barrel of the fire-arm, said spring member being provided with an angular slot to coincide with said bayonet groove.

SRCH @miti 5. A detachable sight for use on fire-arms, having -a sight xed on the barrel comprising an elongated substantially semi-tubular member for disposition about the barrel of the fire-arm and provided with frusto-conical outer surface with a longitudinal sighting groove therein, a spring member secured to the inner side of said semitubular member for friotionally engaging the barrel of the fire-arm, a spring engagement member connected to said spring member for engaging the existing sight to prevent accidental movement of the gun sight on the barrel of the :fire-arm.

JAMES DRAPER HOOKS. 

